Apparatus for wrapping small articles

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for wrapping small articles, especially sweets, having wrapping units mounted one at each end of a reciprocating carrier which moves between two delivery stations in the form of apertured discs, each wrapping unit having means for picking up a sweet from its associated disc and means for drawing wrapping paper from a supply and locating the paper and the sweet in prewrapping positions preparatory to wrapping the paper around the sweet, the arrangement being such that in each limit position one wrapping unit is picking up a sweet from its associated disc while the other wrapping unit is wrapping a sweet previously picked up from its disc. There can be two or more wrapping units at each end of the carrier.

' United States Patent [191 Robinson 1 APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING SMALLARTICLES [76] Inventor: William S. Robinson, Carvers Close,

1 12A Blagreaves Ln., Littleover, England [22] Filed: Feb. 11, 1972 [21]Appl. No.: 225,466

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 1 Dec. 25, 1973 Hacket 53/221Fischer 53/210 X 57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for wrapping small articles,especially sweets, having wrapping units mounted one at each end of areciprocating carrier which moves between two delivery stations in theform of apertured discs, each wrapping unit having means for picking upa sweet from its associated disc and means for drawing wrapping paperfrom a supply and locating the paper and the sweet in pre-wrappingpositions preparatory to wrapping the paper around the sweet, thearrangement being such that in each limit position one wrapping unit ispicking up a sweet from its associated disc while the other wrappingunit is wrapping a sweet previously picked up from its disc. There canbe two or more wrapping units at each end of the carrier.

25 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB DEC 2 5151 5 SHEET 1 OF 3 SHEET 2UP 3 PATENTEU DEC 2 5 I975 SHEET 3 OF 3 1 APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING SMALLARTICLES This invention relates to apparatus for wrapping articles. Theinvention is particularly suitable for wrapping small articles such aschocolate, or sugar confectionery, and for the sake of convenience indescription the articles will be hereinafter referred to as sweets. Thewrapping material usually used is film, foil or paper; the wrappingmaterial will hereinafter be termed paper. It

is to be understood, however, that these terms are not usedrestrictively, for instance the invention could equally well be appliedto the wrapping of mechanical or electrical components.

In connection with apparatus at present in use for wrapping sweets thesweets are usually presented one at a time to a wrapping position, insome cases by means of an endless conveyor, and in other cases by meansof a rotary turntable or feed plate. Simultaneously paper is unwoundfrom a reel and fed to the wrapping position and a suitable length ofthe paper is cut off by a knife for the wrapping of each individualsweet. Some form of wrapping means then acts to apply the paper roundthe greater part of the sweet, for instance it may in the case of asweet which is of square or oblong shape in plan view apply it to oneface and round both sides and ends, thus forming a tube. The sweet thuswrapped is then presented to finishing devices, and these vary accordingto the desired manner of finishing the wrapping of the sweet. In somecases the paper will be folded over the still exposed face of the sweet,and may be heat sealed or crimped along the overlapping parts. In othercases the paper will be enclosed round the sweet by twisting of thespare areas of the paper.

The present invention is concerned with improved forms of wrappingapparatus of this general kind. Existing apparatus for this purpose isof a rather complex nature, and hence costly; moreover it is arranged tooperate at high speeds and tends to be somewhat unreliable; in additionby reason of its complex nature faults are not readily rectified, sothat a machine may be out of use for an appreciable time because of acomparatively trivial defect.

The invention provides apparatus for wrapping articles comprising awrapping unit, an article delivery station and means for effectingrelative movement therebetween, said wrapping unit including means forcollecting an article from said delivery station, means for drawingwrapping material from a supply thereof and means for moving saidwrapping material and said article into juxtaposed relation preparatoryto wrapping o the material around the article.

Preferably said wrapping unit is mounted on a reciprocating carrierwhich may be provided with a wrapping unit at each end thereof andduplicate article delivery stations so arranged that in each limitposition of the carrier one of the wrapping units comes into workingrelationship with one of the delivery stations while the other wrappingunit effects a wrapping operation upon an article previously removedfrom the other delivery station.

Preferably there is more than one wrapping unit at each end of thereciprocating carrier, for instance, there may be two, three or more,there being a delivery station positioned appropriately for eachwrapping unit, so that at each reciprocatory movement of the carriermore than one wrapping operation will be performed.

The movements of the carrier may be effected by cams or other suitablemeans arranged to provide for a period of dwell in each limit positionof the carrier. Each wrapping unit is preferably mounted on the carrierin a readily removable manner.

Preferably all movements of the components of the or each wrapping unitare effected from a single input shaft, for example a cam shaft. The camshaft may be rotated by a sprocket wheel engaged with an auxiliary chaindrive coupled to the carrier for movement in synchronism therewith.

The means for drawing wrapping material from a supply thereof preferablycomprises two fixed fingers and two movable arms which are urged towardsthe respective fixed fingers under spring action and the movement ofwhich is controlled from the cam shaft. The article-collecting andwrapping-gripping arms are preferably interconnected such that theformer prevent operation of the latter when no article is present at theassociated delivery station.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sweet wrapping machine according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the machine showing the drive mechanismand with various parts omitted for clarity;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a sweet wrapping head;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a detail of the sweet wrapping head; and

FIG. 5 is a part sectional diagrammatic elevation showing a sweetwrapping head and associated mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the machine includes a main housing 10carrying a driving motor 11 which, through suitable gearing to bedescribed hereafter, drives all the movable components of the machine insynchronism with one another. The housing also carries a pair of endextensions 12 on each of which are supported two sweet carriers 13 andassociated driving mechanism. In the upper part of the frame structure acarrier frame 14 is mounted for to-and-fro horizontal movement. Thecarrier frame supports four sweet wrapping assemblies indicatedgenerally at 15 only two of which are shown in FIG. 2. Each sweetwrapping assembly is associated with one of the sweet carriers 13 andthe arrangement is such that as the carrier frame 14 reciprocates thetwo sweet wrapping assemblies at one end of the machine are brought intooperative relationship with their associated sweet carriers while thetwo sweet wrapping assemblies at the other end of the machine arewithdrawn from their associated sweet carriers and perform wrappingoperations on sweets picked up from the respective carriers.

As best seen in FIG. 2 the frame structure 14 extends through slots 16in the opposite side frame members of the machine and is secured toslide blocks 17 mounted on horizontal rods 18 one at each side of themachine. The slide blocks are coupled to a cam follower 19 engaged in atrack 20 formed in a cam wheel 21 mounted on the main drive shaft 22 ofthe machine. The cam track 20 is designed such that the carrier frame isreciprocated uniformly between its two limit positions but dwellsbriefly in each such position. During the dwell period variousoperations are carried out by the sweet wrapping assemblies as will bedescribed hereafter.

The main drive shaft 22 is driven from the motor 11 by a belt 23 andpulley 24. A helical gear 25 is mounted V midway along the shaft 22 andmeshes with a similar gear 26 on a cross-shaft 27. The opposite ends ofthe crossshaft 27 are supported in bearings 28 adjacent to each of whichis a spiral cam member 29. This cam member engages with follower teeth30 depending from a disc 31 connected by a short vertical shaft 32 to agearwheel 33 mounted on the respective end extension 12. The gear 33meshes with two further gears 34 which drive the two sweet carriers 13at that end of the machine through vertical shafts 35. Each sweetcarrier 13 is provided with a circumferential series of apertures 36each adapted to accommodate a sweet to be wrapped, the number ofapertures corresponding to the number of depending teeth 30 on the disc31, and the arrangement being such that the cams 29 at each end of thecross-shaft 27 rotate the associated pair of discs 13 in a step-wisemanner so that each of the apertures 36 is brought in turn into adelivery position in line with the associated wrapping assembly 15. Thecams 29 at the opposite ends of the shaft 27 are angularly off-setrelative to one another whereby rotation of the pairs of discs atopposite ends of the machine takes place at different times during theoperating cycle.

Also driven from the main drive shaft 22 are a pair of chain drives 37to shafts 38 mounted towards opposite ends of the machine and carryingpairs of sprocket wheels 39 driving chains 40. The chains extendupwardly from the sprockets 39 at each end of the machine and areentrained round guide pins 41 so that their upper runs extendhorizontally in a direction parallel to the shaft 27. These chains areengaged by sprocket wheels 42 carried one by each of the sweet wrappingheads 15. All the wrapping movements of the latter now to be describedare effected from the chain drives through the sprockets 42.

Referring now to FlGS. 3 to each sweet wrapping head is mounted by asingle fastening on cross members 43 of the carrier frame 14. Thus thebase of each assembly 15 has a depending threaded stud 44 which passesthrough a slot 45 in the cross member 43 and is engaged by a nut 46. Apin 47 also depends from the base of the assembly 15 and engages in theslot 45 to prevent rotation of the assembly about the axis of the stud44. The slot 45 is longer than the distance between the pin and stud toenable slight adjustment of the assembly lengthwise of the cross member43. In this way the entire sweet wrapping assembly 15 may be removedfrom the machine by unscrewing the nut 46 thereby greatly facilitatinginspection or repair.

A pair of sweet gripping arms 48 are pivotally mounted on vertical posts49 rotatably supported in the main body 50 of the assembly 15 and extendforwardly therefrom so as to project over the associated sweet carrier13 at appropriate times during the operating cycle. The posts 49 extendbelow the main body 50 of the assembly and carry intermeshing toothedplates 51 interconnected by a tension spring 52 serving to urge theshafts in directions to bring the arms 48 towards one another. The upperend of one of the two shafts carries a rearwardly directed extension 53which carries a depending follower 54 engaging a cam 55 mounted on amain input shaft 56 secured to the sprocket wheel 42.

The cam 55 has high and low face portions respectively urging the arms48 apart against the action. of the spring 52 and allowing same to movetogether under the spring action at appropriate times in the operatingcycle. The motion applied to one arm 48 by the cam 55 is transmitted tothe other arm through the plates 51 to move to the other arm in theopposite sense.

Also mounted on the input shaft 56 are a pair of further cams 57 whichengage with rollers 58 carried by respective ones of a pair of movablepaper gripping arms 59 located between the sweet gripping arms 48. Themovable paper gripping arms 59 co-operate with a pair of fixed plates orfingers 60 having slots 61 formed in the forward portions thereofwhereby wrapping paper 62 (FIG. 5) supplied through a feed device 63 mayenter the slots 61 and be gripped by the arms 59 rising into contactwith the plates 60. The position adopted by the wrapping paper is shownin broken lines in FIG. 3. A rearward portion of each movable papergripping arm 59 is connected by a tension spring 64 to the body 50 ofthe machine whereby to urge the rollers 58 into contact with theirassociated cams 57.

The outer surface of each movable paper gripping arm 59 carries a stud65 projecting towards the sweet gripping arms 48. The extent ofprojection of this stud is such that if the arms 48 are held apart by asweet the studs 65 can pass within the arms 48 so that the papergripping mechanism functions. However should there be no sweet presentat the carrier 13 the arms 48 will move closer together to an extentsuch that when the movable gripping 59 rise the studs 65 will engage theundersides of the arms 48 and the paper gripping mechanism willtherefore fail to function. Thus when no sweet is present for wrappingno paper will be drawn forward.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 a tubular wrapping device or brush 66 isfixedly mounted in the frame of the machine in a position inwardly ofeach sweet carrier 13. This wrapping device co-operates with avertically movable pusher member 67 adapted to be moved upwards atappropriate times during the operating cycle by a linkage 68 themovement of which is controlled by a cam wheel 69 driven from one of theshafts 38. The pusher member 67 forces each sweet and the associatedwrapping paper through the device 66 and into engagement with a pair ofupper gripping arms 70 carried on posts 71 rotatably mounted in the mainbody 50 of the assembly and coupled together beneath the body 50 bytoothed members 72 (FIG. 3) similar to the members 51 which couple theposts 49. The toothed members 72 are not shown in FIG. 5. A cam 73mounted on the end of input shaft 56 opposite from that carrying thesprocket wheel 42 engages a follower wheel 74 secured to one of theposts 71 and transmits angular movement to the associated post andthrough the members 72 to the other post thereby moving jaw members 75carried by the arms 70 towards one another to grip partially wrappedsweets delivered from the device 66 by the pusher 67. Following grippingof the partially wrapped sweet by the jaws 75 a folding member (notshown) moves in from the left in FIG. 5 to form a first tuck by foldingthe tail of the paper nearest thereto beneath the sweet. The assembly 15then moves away from the sweet carrier 13 thereby drawing the arms 70over a fixed, substantially horizontal plate 76 which folds theremaining tail of the paper under the sweet thereby completing thewrapping operation. An

upstanding peg 77 is coupled to the pusher member 67 for verticalmovement therewith and is adapted to engage in the apertures 36 in thesweet carrier 13 to raise each sweet from the aperture into a deliveryposition between the arms 48. Wires 78 mounted beneath the apertures 36retain the sweets in the apertures as the carrier rotates, the peg 77being slotted to clear the wires 78 as it rises.

Associated with each sweet carrier 13 is a cutter assembly 79 best seenin FIG. 2, the blades 79a of which are also shown in FIG. 5. The cutterblades are operated at appropriate times in the cycle by linkages 80driven by pairs of eccentrics 81 mounted at opposite ends of the maindrive shaft 22.

In operation of the machine sweets to be wrapped are placed one in eachof the apertures 36 of the four sweet carriers 13 and as the main shaft22 rotates the carrier frame 14 reciprocates from one end of the machineto the other. As the two wrapping assemblies 15 at one end of themachine approach their associated sweet carriers the two assemblies atthe other end are withdrawing from the sweet carriers with which theyare associated. During part of the movement between the extremepositions of each assembly 15 the associated chain 40 is moving at thesame speed and in the same direction as the carrier frame 14 and hencethe sprocket wheel 42 is not rotated. At other stages during thesequence of operations the chain and sprocket are rotating at differentspeeds in the same direction or in opposite directions thereby bringingabout different operations of the parts controlled by the sprocketwheel.

As each assembly approaches its associated sweet carrier 13 the sweetgripping arms 48 are moved apart by a distance greater than the diameterof the apertures 36. At the same time the peg 77 rises to push a sweetupwards out of one of the apertures 36 to a position between the arms 48which then close during the dwell period of the assembly 15 to grip thesweet between them. In the meantime wrapping paper has been fed from thedevice 63 into the'slots 61 of the fixed paper gripping plates 60 andthe arms 59 then rise between the sweet gripping arms 48 to grip theleading edge of the paper. The assembly 15 then retracts away from thecarrier 13 drawing the sweet and paper with it with the paper overlyingthe sweet until such time as the sweet is positioned below the wrappingdevice 66. The cutter blades 80 are then brought together to sever thepaper from the roll and the pusher member 67 rises through the device 66causing the paper to fold over the upper surfaceand sides of the sweetas indicated in FIG. 5. The pusher continues to move the sweet upwardswhile assembly 15 returns towards carrier 13 until the sweet is locatedbetween the jaws 75 of the upper arms 70 which are then brought togetherto grip the partly wrapped sweet. The assembly 15 then once moreretracts away from the carrier 13 drawing the sweet over the fixed plate76 which folds the paper round the lower portion of the sweet. Thewrapped sweet is then ejected to the rear of the plate 76 for collectionand any subsequent treatment which may be required. For example thesweet may be removed by a moving belt, chute or other suitable means.

It will be appreciated that both the wrapping assemblies 15 at one endof the machine operate similarly at the same time while the assembliesat the other end of the machine are simultaneously at a different stagein their wrapping cycle. Thus when the assemblies at one end areprojected forwards in co-operation with their respective sweet carriersthe other pair of assemblies are being drawn away from their sweetcarriers and are carrying out a wrapping operation on sweets previouslypicked up from the respective carriers. Thus the machine forms twopicking-up and two wrapping operations simultaneously and wraps foursweets during each complete cycle.

Since each cycle of operations of the machine effects the wrapping of anumber of sweets (four in the particular example described) it will beapparent that the machine can operate at lower speeds than previouslyproposed machines without loss of output and in practice it has beenfound that the machine can operate at speeds approaching those ofexisting machines with less likelihood of malfunctioning due to itsrelatively simple construction. In this way considerably greater outputcan be obtained than with existing machines of this general kind.Moreover all the wrapping operations on each sweet are carried out by asingle unit the drive to which is taken from a common input shaft andthe unit is arranged to be rapidly and easily removed from the machineso that it may be replaced by another unit if overhaul or repair isrequired.

Many modifications may be made without departing from the invention. Forexample, while the machine described has four wrapping stations, one,two, six, eight or more could be provided if desired. Moreover, sweetsmay be transported to their pick-up positions by conveyor beltarrangements instead of sweet carrier discs of the kind described. Thevarious arrangements of cams described for actuating the parts of thewrapping assembly may be replaced by alternative arrangements and thewrapping paper could be cut into suitable lengths by a rotary or otherform of cutting apparatus. A vertically movable spring-loaded pressermay be mounted above the pusher 67 so as to engage the paper and sweetfrom above as they rise through the former 66, thereby ensuring that thesweet and paper do not move apart as they pass through, the presserbeing withdrawn upwards clear of the arms 70 after the latter havegripped the partially wrapped sweet. The movements of the pressers forthe several wrapping stations may be effected by cams on the shafts 38.Moreover the sweet and wrapping paper may be moved downwards through awrapping member similar to the member 66 in which case the wrappingpaper is presented below the sweet and is wrapped first round the bottomand sides of the sweet instead of round the top and sides.

It should also be appreciated that the member 66 may be replaced bymeans designed to wrap the sweets in various different ways, for exampleby initially forming the paper into a tube followed by twisting of theends of the tube. In this case arms similar to the arms 70 will bearranged to grip the partly wrapped sweet by the sides rather than theends, leaving the wrapping projecting from the ends for engagement bytwisting members which may be of known construction. Where more than onewrapping unit is provided, the several units may each be designed towrap the same or different sweets in different ways. Moreover aspreviously indicated the machine could be adapted for wrapping of othersmall articles such as mechanical or electrical components for example.In a further modification the eccentrics 81 may be replaced by camswhich maintain the knives 79 apart for a longer period as thesweetcarrying arms 48 pass between them.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for wrapping articles comprising a wrapping unit, anarticle delivery station and means for effecting relative movementtherebetween, said wrapping unit including first gripping means forcollecting an article from said delivery station, and second grippingmeans for drawing wrapping material from a supply thereof, both saidgripping means being mounted on a common support for movement in unisonto transport, said wrapping material and said article to a wrappingposition preparatory to wrapping of the material around the article.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first gripping meanscomprises a pair of arms mounted for opening and closing movement inorder to grip an article between them, said second gripping meanscomprising further arms at least one of which is movable to grip awrapping material between them.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 including means whereby the wrappingmaterial is closed around the greater part of the article and means forcompleting wrapping and ejecting the wrapped article from the machine.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for closing saidwrapping material around the article comprises a tubular former and apusher member adapted to push the article and wrapping material throughthe former.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said means for completing thewrapping comprises a further pair of arms mounted for opening andclosing movement in order to grip a partially wrapped article be tweenthem, and plate members mounted adjacent said arms and arranged suchthat on relative movement between said arms and said plate members thewrapping operation is completed.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said wrapping unit is mountedon a reciprocating carrier.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said carrier is provided witha wrapping unit at each end thereof and duplicate article deliverystations so arranged that in each limit position of the carrier one ofthe wrapping units comes into working relationship with one of thedelivery stations while the other wrapping unit effects a wrappingoperation upon an article previously removed from the other deliverystation.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein more than one wrapping unitprovided at each end of the reciprocating carrier there being a deliverystation positioned appropriately for each wrapping unit.

9. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said reciprocating carrier isarranged to dwell in each limit position before its direction ofmovement is reversed.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said carrier is driven by acam member having a track designed to provide said dwell period at eachend of the reciprocatory movement of the carrier.

11. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said wrapping unit isdetachably mounted on said carrier by quick-release mounting means.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said mounting meanscomprises a bolt depending from the body of the wrapping unit, passingthrough an aperture provided therefor in said carrier, and engaged by anut.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said aperture comprises aslot providing for adjustment of the wrapping unit relative to thecarrier.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 including a depending peg carried bysaid wrapping unit and engaged in said slot to prevent rotation of thewrapping unit relative to the carrier about the axis of said bolt.

15. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein all move-ments of thecomponents of said wrapping unit are efi'ected from a single inputshaft.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15 wherein said input shaft carries acam or cams for operating said arms for gripping an article, and furthercams for operating said pairs of arms for gripping said wrappingmaterial and the means for completing wrapping.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said wrapping unit ismounted on a reciprocating carrier and said input shaft is rotated by asprocket wheel engaged with an auxiliary chain drive coupled to saidcarrier for movement in synchronism therewith.

18. Apparatus according to claim 17 whrein said chain drive iscontinuously driven in a constant direction such that the reciprocatingmovements of said carrier result in said sprocket wheel rotating in oneor other direction or remaining stationary at different stages duringthe operating cycle.

19. Apparatus according to claim 15 wherein said arms for gripping saidwrapping material comprise two fixed fingers and two movable arms whichare urged towards the respective fixed fingers under spring action andthe movement of which is controlled from said input shaft.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein said arms for gripping anarticle and said arms for gripping said wrapping material areinterconnected such that the former prevent operation of the latter whenno article is present at the associated delivery station.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 wherein said arms for gripping saidwrapping material are provided with lugs extending into the paths ofmovement of said arms for gripping an article such that the latterprevent operation of the former except when the article gripping armsare maintained apart by the presence of an article.

22. Apparatus according to claim 1 including means for supplyingwrapping material from a continuous roll and means for severing suitablelengths of material from the roll for use in wrapping each article.

23. Apparatus according to claim 22 wherein said means for severing saidmaterial comprises a pair of blade members movable to and from oneanother and arranged such that said means for collecting an articlemoves between said blade members in their open position.

24. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the or each said deliverystation comprises a rotary disc provided with a circumferential seriesof openings each adapted to accommodate an article.

25. Apparatus according to claim 24 including indexing means serving torotate each opening of said disc in turn into a delivery position, andejector means operable to raise an article from the aperture into aposition in which it may be collected by the associatedarticlecollecting means.

1. Apparatus for wrapping articles comprising a wrapping unit, anarticle delivery station and means for effecting relative movementtherebetween, said wrapping unit including first gripping means forcollecting an article from said delivery station, and second grippingmeans for drawing wrapping material from a supply thereof, both saidgripping means being mounted on a common support for movement in unisonto transport, said wrapping material and said article to a wrappingposition preparatory to wrapping of the material around the article. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first gripping meanscomprises a pair of arms mounted for opening and closing movement inorder to grip an article between them, said second gripping meanscomprising further arms at least one of which is movable to grip awrapping material between them.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2including means whereby the wrapping material is closed around thegreater part of the article and means for completing wrapping andejecting the wrapped article from the machine.
 4. Apparatus according toclaim 3 wherein said means for closing said wrapping material around thearticle comprises a tubular former and a pusher member adapted to pushthe article and wrapping material through the former.
 5. Apparatusaccording to claim 4 wherein said means for completing the wrappingcomprises a further pair of arms mounted for opening and closingmovement in order to grip a partially wrapped article between them, andplate members mounted adjacent said arms and arranged such that onrelative movement between said arms and said plate members the wrappingoperation is completed.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein saidwrapping unit is mounted on a reciprocating carrier.
 7. Apparatusaccording to claim 6 wherein said carrier is provided with a wrappingunit at each end thereof and duplicate article delivery stations soarranged that in each limit position of the carrier one of the wrappingunits comes into working relationship with one of the delivery sTationswhile the other wrapping unit effects a wrapping operation upon anarticle previously removed from the other delivery station.
 8. Apparatusaccording to claim 7 wherein more than one wrapping unit provided ateach end of the recipro-cating carrier there being a delivery stationpositioned appropriately for each wrapping unit.
 9. Apparatus accordingto claim 6 wherein said reciprocating carrier is arranged to dwell ineach limit position before its direction of movement is reversed. 10.Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said carrier is driven by a cammember having a track designed to provide said dwell period at each endof the reciprocatory movement of the carrier.
 11. Apparatus according toclaim 6 wherein said wrapping unit is detachably mounted on said carrierby quick-release mounting means.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 11wherein said mounting means comprises a bolt depending from the body ofthe wrapping unit, passing through an aperture provided therefor in saidcarrier, and engaged by a nut.
 13. Apparatus according to claim 12wherein said aperture comprises a slot providing for adjustment of thewrapping unit relative to the carrier.
 14. Apparatus according to claim13 including a depending peg carried by said wrapping unit and engagedin said slot to prevent rotation of the wrapping unit relative to thecarrier about the axis of said bolt.
 15. Apparatus according to claim 3wherein all move-ments of the components of said wrapping unit areeffected from a single input shaft.
 16. Apparatus according to claim 15wherein said input shaft carries a cam or cams for operating said armsfor gripping an article, and further cams for operating said pairs ofarms for gripping said wrapping material and the means for completingwrapping.
 17. Apparatus according to claim 16 wherein said wrapping unitis mounted on a reciprocating carrier and said input shaft is rotated bya sprocket wheel engaged with an auxiliary chain drive coupled to saidcarrier for movement in synchronism therewith.
 18. Apparatus accordingto claim 17 whrein said chain drive is continuously driven in a constantdirection such that the reciprocating movements of said carrier resultin said sprocket wheel rotating in one or other direction or remainingstationary at different stages during the operating cycle.
 19. Apparatusaccording to claim 15 wherein said arms for gripping said wrappingmaterial comprise two fixed fingers and two movable arms which are urgedtowards the respective fixed fingers under spring action and themovement of which is controlled from said input shaft.
 20. Apparatusaccording to claim 19 wherein said arms for gripping an article and saidarms for gripping said wrapping material are interconnected such thatthe former prevent operation of the latter when no article is present atthe associated delivery station.
 21. Apparatus according to claim 20wherein said arms for gripping said wrapping material are provided withlugs extending into the paths of movement of said arms for gripping anarticle such that the latter prevent operation of the former except whenthe article gripping arms are maintained apart by the presence of anarticle.
 22. Apparatus according to claim 1 including means forsupplying wrapping material from a continuous roll and means forsevering suitable lengths of material from the roll for use in wrappingeach article.
 23. Apparatus according to claim 22 wherein said means forsevering said material comprises a pair of blade members movable to andfrom one another and arranged such that said means for collecting anarticle moves between said blade members in their open position. 24.Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the or each said delivery stationcomprises a rotary disc provided with a circumferential series ofopenings each adapted to accommodate an article.
 25. Apparatus accordingto claim 24 including indexing means serving to rotate each opening ofsaid disc in turn into a delivery position, and ejector means operableto raise an article from the aperture into a position in which it may becollected by the associated article-collecting means.